Owners of short-term rentals in Anchorage have until the end of July to register with the city, after the assembly passed a new law in December. The registration portal opened earlier this month. Assembly member Zac Johnson sponsored the change and said the goal is to have better information about what the short-term rental market looks like in Anchorage and how it’s affecting the housing market.
“Otherwise, you're just sort of operating on assumptions and best guesses, which is never really a good way to go about doing business,” he said.
Language in the ordinance states that data from the registry will help inform potential future regulations of short-term rentals, but it’s way too early to know what those might be, Johnson said.
The short-term rental registration is free.
The Assembly voted down a short-term rental-specific tax in December. Johnson doesn’t expect that to be revisited in the near future, he said. Short-term rentals are already required to pay a 12% bed tax, the same as hotels. Any rental available for fewer than 30 days is considered short-term.
Girdwood is part of Johnson’s district and that informs how he thinks about housing. The community has a housing crisis, but short-term rentals are also a big part of the economy, he said, so balance is important.
“We depend on the visitor industry down here, and this is an important piece of it, but at the same time, we're worried about the fact that we don't have enough housing for people who live here,” he said.
The city has partnered with platforms like Airbnb, which will now require a registration number for all listings. Owners of short-term rentals who don’t register with the city may be fined.
The city previously required bed and breakfasts to register, but those are now folded into the short-term rental registration.
